“Sunday driver” Carlos Sainz feeling “exposed” at Imola

Carlos Sainz

“Sunday driver” Sainz feeling “exposed” at Imola

Ferrari driver missed out on top-ten position in qualifying

Will Gray

Saturday 17 April 2021 19:27

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Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz feels his weaknesses were exposed in qualifying at Imola this weekend but has warned his rivals he has more to give in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Sainz disappointingly missed out on the top-10 shoot-out at Imola and will start Ferrari’s home race from 11th on the grid after “a bad day in the office”.

“I honestly felt quick all weekend but always felt I couldn’t put a lap together," said Sainz. "Qualifying exposed it.

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"I was just a bit all over the place, never really managing to put a corner together during the whole lap.

“Even though I felt quick in the corners I managed to nail, I just couldn’t put it together. [I’m] disappointed, because I knew the lap time was there and if I did a good job I knew I could go through to Q3.

“At the same time, I think this track has exposed us a bit in terms of that I still lack a bit of mileage, a bit of understanding from the car to know what to expect and to know how to extract the absolute limit of it.”

Sainz’s lap was just half a second off the fastest time in Q2, demonstrating how close the field is, leading to him to declare he could have halved that deficit if he had hooked up a good lap.

After qualifying 10th for McLaren in last year's race and finishing seventh, Sainz is confident of again making up places on Sunday.

“I am always a bit of a Sunday driver," added Sainz. "I always like doing a better job on Sunday and I am quite confident in that regard and I am sure I can move forward.

“It’s tight out there. Every single tenth counts but I know today I left two or three tenths on the table, just by my own means and my own brake balance issues, not managing to put together the balance that I wanted to in every corner.

“I didn’t do it but at the same time, it’s early in the season. I’ve done very few laps with this car and I still need to learn. I am going through a learning curve right now and I will try to improve.”